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ChibiGoku

2009-02-23 04:33

All I can really say is...

Spoiler:

Is Black Star dead...? After being wounded as much as he was, Mifune basically gave him the "finishing blow". Black Star's eyes suddenly blanked, Tsubaki's sudden shocked reaction on her face, and Black Star falling to the ground with a pool of blood surrounding him are not a good sign...

Outside of that, next episode I'm really wondering how the hell I'm going to take seriously. Excalibur, helping pilot a gigantic robot? Seriously, the hell? :heh:

carcanclaw

2009-02-23 09:08

Veeeeery different from the manga.

Spoiler for ep+preview:

Now I knew that the Black*Star vs Mifune fight wouldn't be as good as the manga, so I'm glad that Bones decided to do something completely different and let Mifune win. Also, Eibon surprised me a bit... I'm not exactly a fan of how he appeared entirely without warning and nobody besides Kid was surprised.

So yeah, this episode was about 1/3 part action and 2/3 parts preparation for the next episode, which will hopefully be more eventful. I have no idea whatsoever about what's going on in the preview. Either there's some inner turmoil in Shibusen, or they're using the demon tools to give Shibusen "legs" so they can bring Shinigami to Ashura.

Clarste

2009-02-23 14:13

Spoiler:

At least the writers were honest... Black Star had no chance from the beginning and they knew it. I was sort of counting the number of times that Mifune went easy on him (hitting him with his hand, back of the sword, ignoring an opening, etc) throughout the fight. And then, as soon as Mifune realizes that Black Star's beyond hope, he gets serious and finishes it in one blow. It was quite well done, in my opinion. Also, I noticed that they inserted a few of the more basic strategies from the manga version of the fight (which of course was completely different).

As for the rest of the episode... well I didn't like it. They threw away all the conspiracy build-up from the past dozen or so episodes into one punchline. They even threw in Excalibur just in case maybe they thought we'd take it a bit seriously. So, they threw away Medusa last episode, and are throwing away Eibon this episode. What's next, just have all the rest of the villains self-destruct so that we can spend the entire rest of series with Asura in a giant robot castle fighting Shinigami in a giant robot castle?

BS vs Mifune: Good. Not as good as it could've been, but it shows a refreshing honesty.

Everything else: :eyebrow:

Kotobasuu

2009-02-23 19:05

Spoiler for episode:

bones scuse me wut r u doin?

so shocking eibon/shinigami revelation was not so shocking after all. How disappointing :<

You know it really makes me sad how Kidd hasn't really done anything throughout the entire series. I mean Maka got her demon hunter thing, Black Star with his fey blade and becoming a kishin thing, but Kidd wasn't even important enough to get his epix death canon during the brew arc. Le siiiiighhhh.

In all honesty the only reason im still watching the anime is because i have a major attachment to most of the characters, though i'm definitely preferring the manga over it.

at least excalibur has become somewhat important, though those episodes should've been used for character backstory instead.

NakedAngelX

2009-02-23 20:30

Spoiler for Spoiler:

BLACKSTAR's fight was horrible, not even as exciting as when he first fought Samurai~~ And i bet they would be able to kill Kishin if that dude held Excalibur again :D

FlareKnight

2009-02-23 21:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by NakedAngelX
(Post 2234421)

Spoiler for Spoiler:

BLACKSTAR's fight was horrible, not even as exciting as when he first fought Samurai~~ And i bet they would be able to kill Kishin if that dude held Excalibur again :D

Spoiler:

Yeah it pretty much sucked compared to the first 2 fights. Hurt them that they broke it up into bits even worse that Excalibur was brought back into it. Hurt that they even broke the fight up further with White Star flashbacks. Yes we get it the guy was bad and all that. Got the similarity when he fought Kid, didn't need to go into it again. Would be worried about Black Star in a pool of blood if we didn't have the example of Chrona recovering just fine. Pool of blood means nothing when we're getting to the end.

Only credit you can give them is that they were consistent. There was no way Black Star could win with the lack of development they gave him and that's exactly what happened. Of course if they tossed the Excalibur stuff and used it for Black Star they could have made it into a good fight. Oddly enough I think Clarste is going to be right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clarste
(Post 2233102)

Quite likely they're gonna to use the tried and proven shounen method of powering someone up by having them realize something mid-fight. I'm guessing he's gonna get knocked down at some point, have a dream sequence in which he comes to terms with the deer thing inside Tsubaki, and then gets up and wins. That's just kinda how these things go.

Well already reached the Black Star getting knocked out point. Now he'll probably go into a dream sequence, meet the deer again, find some inner truth, and come back for a final match that probably won't last long with the time constraints. Of course he'll be fine no matter how much blood was lost. Considering it seems we're going to be fighting with mechs in the next episode.....

Kind of feel bad for Kid. All that tension and wondering and it wasn't a big deal in the end.

lmd_84

2009-02-26 16:30

Bizarre, but entertaining. Liked that Kid's assumptions (he never had more than that) were wrong, and how typically casual Shinigami was about the whole affair. Can see Eibon having a connection both to Shinigami and Arachne as being manga canon. It'd suit their respective ideas about the world, to have an ally who works like Eibon: his Tools aren't, themselves, dangerous things (and, as far as we know, nor are the Weapons). Excalibur I can do without.

Black Star's getting nowhere, either in matching Mifune's skill or understanding the point the samurai, Kid, and Nygus and Sid have been trying to make to him; if he wants to 'surpass god', he's going about it the wrong way; Winning cannot be the only thing that matters. Clearly we're not going to go into the same detail as the manga, but we might end up with a similar conclusion for Black Star and the presence inside Tsubaki. Enjoyed the style used for Mifiune's last attack; with the black and red it kind of resembled some of the earlier 'flashback' sequences telling of madness and the kishin.

Alchemist007

2009-02-26 21:14

Why are people using spoiler tags even after the ep is out?
Anyways, I hope the next ep isn't about Eibon's Romeo story or something.

Nosauz

2009-02-26 21:51

overall this was a really good episode, white star stuff was just awesome, wish they made him look even more insane. Overall this is probably the best overall episode since the start of bones original plot, the whole technical aspect and plot were actually not so farfetched like boobie power able to stop stien in the previous episode. The one gripe about animation was the thompson twins, they seemed to be animated differently from the begining of the series. I always thought Patty was significantly shorter than liz. The other thing I have a problem with is wtf is Joe b's purpose in the show? He has so far done nothing but talk in cryptic half truths and drink coffee. Anyway from the style in this episode, I'm liking how the shows heading. I had expected the series to take a darker turn earlier but for most of it, it was light, and hopefully we are finally to a point were things might culminate and form a decent end to a great start of the show.

Boduar

2009-02-26 22:04

Really kinda disappointed with the Black Star fight but thats probably because of comparing it to the manga which has a lot more time to power him up. He is probably one of my favorite characters and I dont think he has won a fight or even put up a good show in like 20+ episodes.

FlareKnight

2009-02-27 01:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alchemist007
(Post 2239626)

Why are people using spoiler tags even after the ep is out?
Anyways, I hope the next ep isn't about Eibon's Romeo story or something.

Well not sure about your first point. I mean if the episode wasn't out what would be in the spoiler tags? No episode means nothing to talk about.

At least the other teams got a small moment to remind people they existed before the end :heh:. Sadly just no time to give them any real development.

Alchemist007

2009-02-27 02:08

I just don't see the point to using them here, I mean who would come in here unless they knew what happened or wanted to intentionally get spoiled?

lmd_84

2009-02-27 06:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boduar
(Post 2239684)

Really kinda disappointed with the Black Star fight but thats probably because of comparing it to the manga which has a lot more time to power him up. He is probably one of my favorite characters and I dont think he has won a fight or even put up a good show in like 20+ episodes.

It's understandable that he hasn't been able to put up a decent fight in this episode, though. He's not got the understanding that he has in the manga, and the power that that allows him. Similar tactics (speed, clones) but ultimately not good enough by the end of 46.

I reckon things will change in the next episode, as Black Star probably faces the prescence inside Tsubaki again. Just to see how it works, I'd love to see it go against the manga and actually have him fail to grasp the necessary understanding, but somehow I doubt that will happen. ;)

Sinestra

2009-02-27 09:29

An ok episode not like i didnt know Black Star was going to lose it was very obvious. In a couple of years with training as he matures and gets more experience he can go toe to toe with Mifune.

Black Star is powerful but hes seriously out classed hes still just a kid. When Mifune thought he was lost he ended it with a clean cut that was him being serious. Although i think Mifune actually misunderstood Black Star i was so surprised that Tsubaki didn't ask Black Star to pull back.

Well puddle of blood doesn't mean jack in anime im sure hes a live and will be treated when he gets back to Shibusen. Maka is heading for the battlefield and im sure Kid will link up too we also have our other 3 hero students on the battle getting ready to infiltrate the castle im sure they will be of some help..

well thats all folks.

Alchemist007

2009-02-27 15:26

I want Mifune to get pwned. But it will never happen unless he himself does it.

KanaKaishou

2009-02-27 19:18

If BS is actually dead, then Bones has lots of balls. And will have done something surprising. I like that the anime is actually taking a different take than the manga--but the manga has time on its side, so it inevitably comes out a better. But this is hardly a travesty. They're tying up loose ends with a vengeance--so I'm actually looking forward to the end of this mess.

AceD

2009-02-27 19:25

does mifune actually have another motive to be doing what he is? he claims hes helping to them to keep An safe, but hes clearly strong enough to do that himself

Clarste

2009-02-28 01:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voracious Hollow
(Post 2241620)

does mifune actually have another motive to be doing what he is? he claims hes helping to them to keep An safe, but hes clearly strong enough to do that himself

Mifune's helping Arachne create a world where Angela won't be persecuted or used. Yeah, he could continue to guard her forever, but he doesn't want her to live in fear and have to hide from society. That seems like a good reason to me.

lmd_84

2009-02-28 06:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by KanaKaishou
(Post 2241609)

If BS is actually dead, then Bones has lots of balls. And will have done something surprising. I like that the anime is actually taking a different take than the manga--but the manga has time on its side, so it inevitably comes out a better. But this is hardly a travesty. They're tying up loose ends with a vengeance--so I'm actually looking forward to the end of this mess.

I don't see why killing Black Star would be all that of a leap for Bones to make. As he is now, he's more the 'demon' people fear he will become than the great man/warrior he likes to think he is. Like his father, he's facing his own destruction by causing the destruction of others' purely for the sake of winning.

This is what I don't get about the anime characterisation of Black Star, because I hardly see Bones killing him off. But for them to allow him to survive, they have to fit into perhaps one episode what Okubo took several chapters to establish: that he can accept what he's facing and deal with his issues without taking the path of a kishin.

With what Bones seems to have in mind (unless I'm wrong and they are going to have Black Star fatally learn the error of his ways) it's going to be an awfully quick turnaround.